A small team of Googlers and friends at the Africa Governance Initiative recently completed a short scoping trip to Liberia. The ending of the long and violent 1990s civil wars and subsequent democratic elections have paved the way for a rebuilding of the country and a new-found focus on the future. Meeting the requirements of basic human needs - shelter, energy, transportation infrastructure etc. - is of course the priority at national level. There is, for example no power grid in Liberia today. However, there is also strong recognition at policy levels of the important role that technology - and internet connectivity in particular - can play in underpinning education, healthcare provision, economic development, employment and mobility in Liberia and across the broader region.

With the ACE under-sea communications cable due to reach the Liberian shores in 2012, it is key - as with similar cables around the African continent, that the potential of affordable internet access really does materialise for people on the ground in Liberia and across wider sub-Saharan Africa. Securing these benefits will depend on open and competitive access to the landing station, fair interconnection arrangements, the roll-out of terrestial backbone infrastructure to end the current need for local-to-local communications to go via expensive international satellite routes, competing offers to users, and an enabling regulatory environment.

The level of optimism around the benefits of the cable among senior Liberian policymakers, regulators,operators and aid agencies is striking, and the supporting policy intentions clear. As always though, the devil will be in the detail of implementation. Open connection policies, infrastructure deployment follow-through and credible alternatives for the user are what will ultimately drive competition, reduce access prices to the user and ensure that Liberians are able to enjoy the economic, social and innovation benefits of internet access that so many of us enjoy and that can help underpin the country’s stability and future prosperity.Posted by Susan Pointer, Public Policy and Government Relations EMEA